


The World As We Know It

by Rainbow_Transform



Category: Video Blogging RPF
Genre: Alternate Universe, Angst and Hurt/Comfort, Author Is Sleep Deprived, Brother Feels, Gen, I don't mean to make Sapnap the villian, I'm also using the SMP versions and "the ender dragon is our pet" videos, Not Beta Read, Schrödinger's Author, The Author Regrets Everything, The Author Regrets Nothing, Tubbo & Dream friendship, but he's the Pet Killer, ender dragon - Freeform, world building
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-10-08
Updated: 2020-10-28
Packaged: 2021-03-07 18:09:04
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 2
Words: 12,417
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26891953
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Rainbow_Transform/pseuds/Rainbow_Transform
Summary: The person who her Runner had showed her beforehand is here. He is here to kill her, she knows. But she will not go down without a fight. And there is even new people: two children, a man in a suit, a pig that walks on two feet, in which she does growl and snap at often.
Relationships: Clay | Dream & Dave | Technoblade, Clay | Dream & Eret (Video Blogging RPF), Clay | Dream & Floris | Fundy, Clay | Dream & GeorgeNotFound & Darryl Noveschosch & Sapnap, Clay | Dream & Toby Smith | Tubbo, Clay | Dream & Wilbur Soot
Comments: 39
Kudos: 232





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> aI like Dream Team. And I like SMP. And you know... i write stuff. And I wrote this! :)

_ She stirs, restless in her own home. She doesn’t know where her Runner is, where her Creator hides, but she waits. She feels his emotions flare, excitement and she swears she smells blood and feels something warm trickling down her own snout. She knows her Runner, her Creator has deemed her off-limits. The world’s creators has deemed it so, and so it shall be. _

_ But she also knows her Creator’s friend has done something to her runner. Just as her Runner has done something with him. She smells the bloodlust from her Runner, hears his laughter and even feels his pangs of regret, but she’s in her Realm. She feels nothing from her Creator, but she thinks that he is not with her Runner. _

_ And it is not her Runner, nor her Creator. _

* * *

Dream is there in a flash. He’d heard something happened with the Ender Dragon, and he hopes beyond hope that nothing is wrong with her. He knows she can hold her own against anyone. She’s flying on her own, way up above and Dream watches her with vigor. He notices the End Crystals streaming to her body. There’s two left, and Dream’s first thought is:  _ we need more, _ and his second is:  _ who did this. _

“You’re hurt?” He calls up to her, and her head turns down. She flaps her wings once, before aiming for him. He yelps as she manages to scoop him up by his hoodie and flip him onto her back. 

She sends pictures of him in her Realm, and Dream can already know what she’s saying. He’s here, and she’s happy. He hasn’t visited her in a long while, and she knows George won’t come into the End without him. Dream sweeps his hand through her fur, and feels some scales underneath it. “Hey, you. Wanna tell me who came here?”

And she does. Pictures of Sapnap and BadBoyHalo fill his mind, Skeppy a few steps behind and Antfrost looking nervously up at her. 

_ “Didn’t they say the Ender Dragon’s off-limits?” Antfrost asks, and Sapnap scowls.  _

_ “Don’t be scared, Ant,” Bad says softly. “She won’t hurt us that much. She’s George and Dream’s pet.” _

_ “They couldn’t stop bragging that they’d tamned her,” Sapnap said. “They put her in this new place to keep the World going.” _

_ “Should we do this?” Skeppy asked. “I mean, we’re not exactly speedrunners. Why couldn’t we get Punz here?” _

_ “He’s busy trying to get us extra supplies,” Sapnap said. “Besides, this dragon’s tamned, which means that her powers are weaker than the other dragon’s.” _

* * *

She pauses in her images, her wings flapping in the air for another brief moment. Dream rubs between the two nubs on her head, and whispers “Good girl. You’ve shown them.”

She purrs, before settling down on her perch. Her wings still flap, but Dream is able to slide off. “If they come back,” Dream whispers to her. Her anger fills Dream’s mind, and it fills his core, but Dream shakes it off. “If they come back, and they do kill you.”  _ (He sends her pictures of Punz, gives her images of the strategies they’d played on him once upon a time.) _ “Georgette, if they  _ kill _ you, don’t let them get your egg.”

Georgette nuzzles Dream’s shoulder before licking his head, and making his hair stand up. “I’ll try to visit as much as possible,” Dream promises. “But the others will find you. I’ll see if George and I can create something to keep you safe while I’m not here.”

She licks him again before spreading her wings once more and taking to the skies again. 

Dream begins planning.

* * *

George doesn’t come to visit Georgette often, for the simple reason that he doesn’t really need to. He’d created her, but it was for a fun little thing before he’d inevitably wanted to delete her, but Dream stopped him. “Let’s make her a home,” he says.

“Dream,” George had groaned. “Why?”

“She’s important,” Dream said. “She’s ours.”

“I can create a million of it,” George had said.

“Not like her,” Dream hissed. “I’ll make her the world, George. You don’t have to.”

“It’s not that, Dream. Why are you attached to her?”

“She’s important,” Dream said stubbornly. “Don’t you dare delete her.”

“Fine,” George said. “But you’re not going to keep calling it Georgette.”

“What am I supposed to call her?” Dream had called as George walked away. 

( _ He keeps calling her Georgette. What’s George going to do? Kill her?) _

* * *

He managed to get a few Ender Crystals and set them back where they were supposed to go. He was also pretty sure Georgette was sick of him, but she tolerated him anyway because (according to her) he was her “Runner”. George helped him create a place where if Georgette was really low, and she couldn’t heal, she would be able to hide in there. (And Dream hoped that it’d be enough until he can get there); and Dream even created another place where Georgette’s egg could spawn in, should she die. 

Georgette would try and keep him near her at all times, even though she’d frequently fly away as well. She’d bring him Ender Eyes from the Endermen she’d killed, apparently. He had smiled, thanked her, and even kissed her snout before he’d left that day.

He brings her into the overworld once, shows her the sun. Dream knows that it isn’t her home, and it won’t be her home. That’s why she had to stay in the end. But she’d whined and cuddled with Dream when he fell asleep in the End, held the Endermen at bay and even snapped at George when he’d come to find him.

Dream knows that Georgette loves him, and she loves George.

He also know Sapnap won’t stop until she’s dead.

* * *

_ The person who her Runner had showed her beforehand is here. He is here to kill her, she knows. But she will not go down without a fight. The others who failed are here as well, and they have things that explode with them. And there is even new people: two children, a man in a suit, a pig that walks on two feet, in which she does growl and snap at often.  _

_ She will not let them have her egg, nor her life. She manages to kill a few before the other ones get to her, and she is overwhelmed. She manages to fly upward, and stay higher in the sky before she feels it. _

_ Her Creator is here, and he demands she comes down.  _

_ And she doesn’t. _

* * *

He returns some days later, with more End Crystals ready to place it in secret locations just in case⸺and he doesn’t hear her wings beating or her roars. Instead, it is just silence as the Endermen mill around, and Dream’s foot steps on something. When he lifts it up, there’s a broken scale underneath his foot.

Which means it’s been dried out. Georgette’s been dead for at least a week. George told Dream last night that he’d checked on her the day before, and she’d been fine. George lied to him. Dream’s lips curls into a snarl, and he looks around, taking note of the explosions in the terrain around him, noting how the beds have done their work. 

He also notices the thrown-aside cape on one of the obsidian towers.  _ Technoblade, _ he thinks.  _ What did they offer you? _

Dream gathers the scales that seem to litter the ground from where Georgette had died. He doesn’t know who else was in the End with the group of six, but he knows that no one can be trusted on the server. He also knows George doesn’t know that he’s here. This was a surprise visit to her, since he’d managed to get enough End Crystals to help heal her in a fight with someone else. 

_ Okay, _ he thinks.  _ Two can play this game, Snapmap. _

* * *

He joins Pogtopia, officially, and doesn’t allow Wilbur a chance to tell him no. Tommy and Niki are thrilled, Techno’s eyes follow Dream everywhere, and Dream… doesn’t do much. He fights when they tell him to fight, eats alone, and trains alone. He gathers pearls from the Endermen that run wild in the End, and gives them to Pogtopia. He keeps the others neutral (although he knows who’d they follow if asked); keeps Eret and Fundy at arms length. 

(They’re happy together, Dream guesses). Bad, Sapnap, and George told often, and they even invite Dream over.  _ No hard feelings, _ Bad says, all smiling and happy. Dream does not accept, but he does not refuse either. 

Dream spends his night overlooking the server layout, overlooks maps and plans strategies. They steal food from Schlatt more often, attacks are more calculated and the hits are better placed. Eventually, Dream has a warrant out for his arrest, in which he’d gone to JSchlatt’s home, and given himself up. (Dream really did want to reward. Three netherite ingots. Perfect. Except, they didn’t give it to him, so he’d broken out of jail, and then mined down the flag and burned each piece of obsidian in lava.)

Technoblade farmed more potatoes and Dream planned strategies. And he planned revenge.

* * *

They asked him, before he’d left, what was wrong. Fundy held his hand while Eret stayed on Dream’s right. “I’m not leaving because of you guys.” Dream said. 

“I know.” Fundy said. “But you won’t leave us forever.”

“‘Course not.”

“Okay.” 

Eret places a hand on Dream’s shoulder, leans close and whispers: “Why are you leaving?”

“There are some things I need to take care of,” Dream says back. “Things by myself.”

“I’d feel better if you take someone with you,” Fundy remarked. 

“I am,” Dream started. “But you can’t know who they are yet.”

Eret frowns, but nods in understanding while Fundy stammers. Dream smiles softly, kisses Fundy’s hand, and then he draws away from them. “I’ll see you guys later,” he informs them, and he goes to get ready.

* * *

He eventually gives his plans to Wilbur, and then exiles himself from the SMP. George asks him where he’s going to go. Dream shrugs, says he’ll find someplace. Tommy sees him off, and asks him what he’s going to do when he comes back. Dream doesn’t know, but he does offer Tommy a note. 

“Open it later,” he says softly. “Don’t let anyone read it.”

“When do I read it?” He asks.

“You’ll know.” Dream said, and then turned his back to walk down the SMP’s starter home. When he turns back, he sees the other people on the SMP watching him walk away. Dream offers his hand a wave, before continuing on his way. 

Fundy and Eret watch with empty eyes.

* * *

Dream yawns before poking the fire in front of him. “Come on out,” he calls to the forest. “There’s no one except me and you.”

Tubbo sneaks out of the bushes, smiling brightly. “I thought you’d never ask!” He said, bounding over to him. Dream laughs. 

“Well I’d known you were there for a while, Tubbo. We’re just getting started anyway.”

“Well, what’re we looking for?”

“Someone to help me out with something.”

“Oh, yeah? Like what?”

Dream smiles, all sharp teeth. “Hatching an egg.”

“What?”

* * *

(Of course, Tubbo’s absence is noticed almost immediately in ‘Manberg’. JSchlatt’s right-hand man and Secretary of State gone missing in just one day? The day Dream left the SMP?  _ Well, Dream left alone _ , argues Bad and Skeppy.  _ He couldn’t have taken Tubbo with him. _

Quackity blames Pogtopia.  _ You must’ve kidnapped him, and then left him somewhere! _ He’d shouted.  _ And then you must’ve forgotten where you’d put him! _

Pogtopia blames Manberg.  _ Manberg was the last one that had Tubbo, JSchlatt must’ve done something to him. _ Eret and Fundy stay in Eret’s castle, no one thinking of asking them where they think the teenager had run off to. 

_ Hope they never find him, _ Fundy whispers.

And far, far away, Dream sits with a brown-haired boy who laughs at the stories he tells him of the stars.)

* * *

_ There was once a star, so bright and shiny that he’d outshone every other star in the sky. The other stars grew jealous, because they wanted a chance to shine as well. So, they devised a plan _

(“Oh, what kind?”

“I’m getting to it. Come on.”)

_ When night fell, the stars all grouped together and decided that they will shine their light together. It would surely outshine the First Star, right? But they were wrong. The First Star saw their brothers and sisters and siblings shining together and they wanted to join as well. But when they tried, they shined brighter than all of them combined. In a fit of jealousy, all of the stars fell onto of the First Star  _

(“Dream, what is this story?”

“I don’t know.”

“Did your mother tell you this?”

“Maybe. I don’t really remember. Just the story.”

“Bad mom.”

“Tubbo!”)

_ They forced him down onto the Earth, where his light no longer reached them. The stars in the sky were happy. They could finally shine, while the First Star, far far below them, could no longer hog the sky. The star on Earth grew weary of its existence, grew upset at itself for believing that their siblings truly wanted them. And with every sad thought, the light in the Star grew dimmer. _

_ And when it finally went out, the Star slumped to the side, sound asleep. They’d somehow become a human, with hunger gnawing at them and sleep in the corner of their eyes. They travel through the lands, following the news like moths to a flame. The townspeople speak to each other, whispering about how the stars aren’t as bright these nights, and something feels missing. _

_ They do end up finding people. People who love them, who enjoy their company. People who build them things, and made cities out of places they’d been. The Star even explains how they came to be, how the World was created and what the others did to him. Their friends sympathize, and they understand.  _

_ And the Star shines brighter than they have in years. They’ve got friends, and family, and a city where they are.  _

_ And then their friends were told to kill the Star. ‘The light must go back to sky’ the wise people say to them. ‘And they must understand that living on Earth is not for Stars.’ _

_ And then their friends take the Star to the home they’d built together, and they ran him through with a sword. _

(“Dream, I don’t really like this story.”

“I’ll change it, if you want.”

“Please.”)

* * *

When they finally get to a village, Dream sets Tubbo the task of gathering wheat, and trading with the villagers for him. He goes to find a cleric, and pays him quietly underneath the table. “What do you know about hatching Ender Dragons?”

“I know they only hatch once every hundred years, and they spring out fully formed and ready for bloodlust. The light in our world is too much for them to handle; the End is their home, and they won’t leave it for anything. They are untamable creatures, and to force them into servitude is on your own head for what happens afterward.”

Dream sighs and slides more emeralds across the table. “Now, tell me the  _ ‘forbidden’ _ knowledge.”

The villager scoops the emeralds carefully and places it in a chest near him. “It is said that if the Ender Dragon egg somehow feels like it is back with its mother, it will hatch quicker than normal. According to ancient texts, no one is able to hatch the Egg, because no one can replace the egg’s mother. Only when it wants to come out, will it finally break the shell.”

“Is that all?”

“All that I know.”

Dream stands, and shakes his head. “That’s not enough. I need to know how to replace the old Ender Dragon to get a new one? That makes no sense.”

“The Dragon is killed by a player,” the villager says. “When the egg hatches without anyone’s interfering then the Ender Dragon lives long enough to lay, hatch, and teach its child what it must do and then dies. That is how the World used to work.” 

“Now others go and kill the Dragon.”

“Exactly. The olden ways no longer work, which means that no new dragons are hatched, and therefore no new Worlds are created or helped.”

Dream taps the side of his head. He’s already planning how to get his emeralds back when he hears Tubbo shouting from the streets. Both him and the villager go running out of the home when they see Tubbo holding off two farmers, who is screaming about him being a thief. 

Dream smoothly cuts in, holding his axe in one hand and a shield in another. “What’s the problem?” He asks.

“This thief⸺”

“I’m not talking to you,” Dream snaps. “Tubbo, what happened.”

“I was just gathering the crops and replanting them⸺”

“The wrong way⸺!”

“And then they  came up and started yelling at me.” Tubbo finished. “Like, I was trying to be helpful.”

“He was trying to be helpful,” Dream repeated to the villager, whose eyes narrowed. 

“He was stealing crops.” The villager insisted and Dream hefts his axe up. 

“And?” He said calmly. “So, he’d taken some crops, but he was also planting more. It means nothing.”

“They were  _ my crops. _ ”

“And I’ve already said it means  _ nothing. _ ”

“If that boy doesn’t give me back the crops, then I’ll be forced to call the Golem.” The villager snarls.

* * *

“So, when you fight an Iron Golem, you’ve got to up yourself three blocks,” Dream explained, watching the Golem grow angrier as it can’t reach them. 

“Because their arms can’t reach that high!” Tubbo calls excitedly from his own perch and Dream lets out a chuckle. 

“Yes,” he says. “And while you’re this high up, jump as well. The arms can’t hit you, but it can get a lucky shot and move you off the blocks. So you jump while you hit the Golem as well.” 

The villagers mill around, the farmer looking worried about the Golem’s inability to hit the threat in their village. The Golem grunts, angrily reaching for them again before Dream hits it the final time, and it drops. They both jumps down, Dream eyes the terrified expression on the other villager’s expression. “We’ll be leaving now,” Dream announces, gathering the Golem’s dropped iron, and they both set off.

“Are they going to be okay?” Tubbo asks.

“They’re going to make a new Golem,” Dream says. “In all actuality, they will. They aren’t just going to leave their home unprotected. If they were  _ smart, _ they would have back up iron to make another one quick. And if they aren’t, they’ve just got to stay inside for the night.”

Tubbo hums. “There’s a lot of things I don’t know.” He tells Dream.

“You’ve stayed in a SMP for all your life, Tubbo,” Dream says. “Everyone else thinks you’re a kid, a baby. But you’re a teenager. I mean, I’m not going to be around forever. You’ve got to be thinking about the future.”

“I don’t know. The future’s far away, and I like staying here.”

Dream smiled at him, then. A soft one that didn’t show his teeth, and he sighs. “Yeah.” He says softly. “The future’s not always a good thing. But we’ve got to think about it. If we don’t, who knows what’ll happen.”

Tubbo’s quiet for a moment before⸺ _ “Bees!” _

* * *

Dream splits some bread with Tubbo that night, and while he’s eating, Tubbo asks him “Why’re we looking to hatch an egg? Shouldn’t we wait for it to hatch itself?”

Dream shrugs. “I don’t know how to hatch this egg,” he starts. “It’s a secret one. I’ve hidden it somewhere no one’s going to find it, but I’ve got to hatch it.”

“But why?”

Dream takes a bite of the bread, chews and swallows. His mask’s been pushed up from his face, and he shrugs. “The egg’s important,” he says. “If it doesn’t hatch soon, who knows what’ll happen to the SMP, and the world.”

Tubbo’s quiet. “What do you mean by that?”

“The Ender Dragon’s dead, Tubbo.” Dream starts and he hears Tubbo’s quick inhale. “I think I know who’d killed her, but I can’t do anything about it right now. I’m too busy trying to make sure the World doesn’t collapse.”

_ “What?” _

“The way our World works,” Dream said. “The way it works, is what the World and the Dragon take from each other. The Dragon keeps the World satisfied by allowing it to feed off of it, and the World in turn, houses and keeps the Dragon safe. Why do you think you have to skip through so many ‘levels’ to kill the Dragon? The Dragon keeps the world safe, keeps it bright and fun and happy. Keeps the crops growing nicer, faster, better. It doesn’t make anyone think the world’s boring. But when it’s over, when the person kills the Dragon, the World can’t feed off of anyone. It tries with the person who’d killed the Dragon, but then the person grows tired and bored of the World. And then the person who kills the Dragon no longer wants to live in the World anymore, and once they leave, the World’s alone. It grows angry, and then begins to chew through itself searching for something else. Someone else.  _ Anything _ to keep itself alive. It basically becomes the Nether, and there goes everything else.”

“Wait,” Tubbo says, looking worryingly at Dream. “The Piglings and things in the Nether are  _ another World? _ They’re villagers from another World?”

“Yes,” Dream says. “They are. But those Worlds have been dead for a long time, Tubbo. It doesn’t just become the Nether all of a sudden. It’s gradual. If you ever go back to the World, it won’t be the first thing you see. It starts at the edges of the World, and then works its way toward wherever the person’s last settled.” 

Tubbo looks horrified. “So you’re trying to hatch the Ender Dragon’s egg to help the server?”

“Right,” Dream says. “The world shouldn’t reject the baby. After all, she’s the back-up for the World. But no person has hatched the Dragon’s egg except for the Dragon.”

“So you’re going to find that way.”

“I’m going to try.”

* * *

The illager’s mansion holds a secret no man’s ever actually found. The library inside of it is said to hold all secrets of the Nether, the Dragon’s existence, and even how to skip and hop worlds. Dream leaves Tubbo sleeping at camp with half of the food they’d gathered, and sets off to find the mansion. The moon’s still out, not even setting while Dream sets up traps around the camp. (He knows no one will ever forgive him if Tubbo died and respawned back in L’manberg.)

He spends a few hours scouring the forest, finding some broken tree branches and some arrows stuck deep in some tree’s trunks. He manages to dig some out, and set them in his pack. (Tubbo needs the practice, and if he needs broken not-sharp arrows to help him learn to use a bow better, Dream’s not going to complain.)

He jumps through the trees, moving silently toward where more footprints are in the leaves. He manages to carve something into the trees by the path (a little smiley face), and when he returns back to where they’d set up camp, Tubbo was still asleep. Dream crafts him another bow and takes out the broken arrows, frowning at them. He tries to prick his finger but can’t (illagers don’t sharpen their tools, or conserve them either, apparently). Dream does eat some more food.

Then, he sits and he waits.


	2. Chapter 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This chapter is significantly longer than the other one, but that's because there's a lot of information to sort through. 
> 
> Enjoy guys!

When Dream and George first made the World for Georgette, it wasn’t meant to last. George thought it’d be over within two months, Dream letting go of the silly thought of the Dragon being ‘his’. George made a world that wasn’t meant to last, with an obsession Dream shouldn’t have had. But, somehow, this fully grown Ender Dragon, that could drop him from so high and  _ kill _ him, wormed its way into Dream’s heart.

And George wasn’t jealous. He wasn’t. But when the world was just starting to collapse, Georgette ‘somehow’ failed to keep it alive, Dream didn’t pause for a moment. Right away, he’d gone to the End to figure out if something was wrong with Georgette, then combed through every book they’d had, traded favors for information, and (somehow) even ended up in another World, taking all their information, too. 

(When George asked about the World, Dream’s eyes had darkened, and his hands fell onto his mask, like he’d forgotten it was there. “Nothing,” Dream had said shortly. “There was nothing there.”)

And, somehow, he’d found a way to save her and the World. And he’d done something, something that George didn’t even know. But he connected them. Connected the dragon and him, somehow. George didn’t even think they’d be able to kill the dragon without killing Dream as well. But Sapnap had assured them that Dream would be fine. He wouldn’t even know she’d died, after all. 

“Dream doesn’t trust us anymore,” Bad had said quietly. “At least, not with pets or Tommy.”

“Which is stupid,” Sapnap added.

“But he does trust you. And if you keep him away from the dragon as long as possible, then we’re good for at least a month. Just until we find her egg and hold it above Dream’s head.”

“Do you need help?” George asks.

“No, we’ve got our own plan,” Bad says smiling. “Dream’ll understand later on. We’re not doing this to hurt him, right Sapnap?”

“We just want him back on our side,” Sapnap chimes in. “Tommy’s had him for too long.”

_ (But then, something happened. More people that shouldn’t have been there, were. And George had to come into play, he had to demand that the dragon comes down. He’s Her Creator, and she listens to her Creator. Except,  _ **_she didn’t._ ** _ And George had to do something, had to gain control, so he took the reins. Took her back under control, and forced her to come back down. _

_ But she fought like the Wither. Every flap that brought her closer to them, she’d force herself further upward. She fought with all her might, and if George didn’t know any better he could have sworn she was screaming.) _

* * *

Tubbo sleeps most of the day away, and Dream debates whether he should wake him up or not. He decided against it, convincing himself that Tubbo probably doesn’t sleep well enough in L’manberg. With Schlatt on the loose and Tommy gone, he should get about as much sleep as he needs. But Dream also is bored just sitting there on a tree’s branch, waiting for the teen to wake up. So, he just begins to catalog their food again, and makes a plan to keep their foot resolve for at least three months. 

_ But Tubbo’s a teen, he’ll be hungry a lot. _ The thought pops in his head, and Dream takes another glance at him. Tubbo wasn’t even the person that Dream was going to have as a partner. It was a lie, fed to Fundy and Eret so they wouldn’t worry; he didn’t want anyone to know when he’d come back, or give ‘updates’ to his city on where he’s gone or is going. Or even what he’s doing. But Tubbo managed to slip past Schlatt’s and Technoblade’s radar to find him. And Dream wasn’t going to send him back, not when he’d already tore his suit and ripped the jacket of it. 

So, he kept Tubbo with him. He’d taken Tubbo’s communicator though, told him that Dream didn’t have one (which he didn’t) and tucked the communicator away. (That was code for he’d tossed it into a ditch when Tubbo wasn’t looking). He’d buy him a new one when it came down to it, but Dream doesn’t have enough energy to worry about it right now. Tubbo shifts, and moves over to the left, and Dream takes out his bow, and draws back the arrow slowly.

Tubbo’s eyes open to an arrow flying right at him. He squeaks and ducks, but it passess harmlessly and hits the creeper trying to sneak up on them. Tubbo’s eyes are wide.

“What the fuck.” He said.

“Sorry,” Dream replied back. “I wasn’t aiming for you.”

“That makes it so much better,” Tubbo says sarcastically. Dream lets out a wheeze before sliding down the tree.

“Come on,” he says. “We’re packing up camp. We’re going to go to a mansion.”

“Whose?”

“Oh, a friend of mine.”

* * *

George takes a bite of the cookies Bad bought from Niki, and chews it thoughtfully. “Dream couldn’t have taken Tubbo, right? Like, he left alone and he’d tell us if he was taking Manberg’s Secretary of State.”

Bad frowns. “I don’t know,” he said softly. “Lately, it feels like Dream’s been distant.”

“There shouldn’t be any reason,” Sapnap says, breaking off parts of George’s cookies and then being pushed off the chair. 

“Calm down, guys,” Bad starts before Sapnap jumps up and spills George’s milk all over the floor. “Boys!” Bad snaps, and George (who’d just gotten his bow out) and Sapnap (shield at the ready) stop.

“Sorry,” they both mutter before Sapnap goes to find something to wipe the milk off and George tries to keep more from spilling out. 

“You guys are like literal children,” Bad mutters. “But we’re talking about Dream, guys. He’s not himself.”

“Well, it can’t be the Dragon,” George says. “I’d told him that she was safe a couple days ago, and he believed me. Said he wasn’t going to visit her anytime soon.”

“Then what could it be?” Bad asked. “He’s always up front with us.”

“Probably how Tommy and Wilbur don’t have a handle on literally anything. That’s why he left,” Sapnap laughed. “He wanted to play soldier, and when they weren’t game, he abandoned them.”

“But they were doing well. Attacking Schlatt’s base and taking their foot stores, and even burning down Skeppy’s house a few times.”

“I don’t get that part,” George starts. “What’s wrong with Skeppy’s house?”

“Same,” Sapnap says.

Bad opens his mouth to explain when the entire world rocks. All three of them slipg, fall to the ground and Bad thinks he hears Sapnap screaming their names. The ground underneath them shakes, and Bad thinks he hears a whimpering gasp that sounds like the Ghasts from the Nether, but it leaves as quickly as it comes. Bad stumbles around, and George is there in front of him, pale and shaky-looking. 

“Are you okay?” He asks. Bad reaches for George’s hand, pulls himself up and nods. “Where’s Sapnap?” George asks, looking around. He begins calling for him, and Bad does too. 

He calls back five minutes later, his hand sticking up from some blankets that’s somehow fallen on top of him. “How’d you get something soft, while we were on the ground?” George muttered, and Sapnap shrugs. 

They stumble out of the club, blinking the dust from their eyes. “An earthquake?” Bad asks. He takes a long glance around the SMP, where some buildings have collapsed, others sunk into the Earth, and others still stand with chunks missing.

“An  _ earthquake?” _ Sapnap asks. “In the  _ World?” _

Bad swallows. “I don’t know,” he says. “But whatever it is.”

“It’s bad.” George finishes.

* * *

Tubbo winces as Dream splashes some potions of regeneration on both of them. “Some friends,” Tubbo snipes. 

Dream chuckles. “Yeah, they’re kinda dumb. They don’t remember me as their friends.”

“Uh-huh,” Tubbo says, poking at the cut on his arm. “I guess that’s what happens when you’re always out and about.”

Dream hums quietly. “Well, I don’t mean to be,” he says. “It just happens.”

“Why?” Tubbo asks. “Why is it when you leave that  _ everything _ goes down?”

Dream shrugs. “I don’t know.”

“When you think about it,” Tubbo says, gesturing. “When L’manberg gained freedom, you were there. When you weren’t there, Schlatt gained the presidency, and Tommy and Wilbur were exiled. When you were here, Tommy got Techno on almost right away when he was fighting with Sapnap, and he even got his revenge without anyone really interfering.  _ And, _ you were the one that gave Tommy all his stuff, not to mention that he never got caught even when they should have been in Pogtopia.  _ Why. _ ”

Dream purses his lips. “Honestly? I don’t know, Tubbo. I guess it has something to do with Georgette.”

“Whose Georgette?”

“The Ender Dragon,” Dream says, poking at the fire at their feet now. “Her name was Georgette. She was mine.”

“What?”

“Georgette was my pet. She was my Ender Dragon. George created her, and she got my heart the moment I took her flying for the first time.”

“You can’t tame Ender Dragons.” Tubbo says, doubtfounded.

“She isn’t a traditional Ender Dragon, Tubbo. She was created from code, and she was mine. George wanted to delete her, but I’d figured out I’d already loved her. I made him promise not to delete her, and I’d created her a world where she could live. This world. But something went wrong a couple of months ago.”

“Huh?” 

“It was before your time, Tubbo,” Dream said. “The World was dying. Georgette was dying. I didn’t know why, so I went through so much stuff. I found so many mansions, and nothing was helping her. No potions, no amount of diamonds and emeralds that I’d spent on clerics. Nothing. So, I went to a place I swore to never visit again.”

Tubbo’s silent. “And that place was…?”

“Don’t ask me that, Tubbo,” Dream says quietly. “Please don’t ask me that. It’s a place that holds no good memories, and if I tell you what it is, they’re going to come for you. And they won’t let you go.”

“Okay, emo.” Tubbo says and Dream starts wheezing. 

“Finish your story,” Tubbo demands, and Dream complies.

“I’d went to that place, and I found something. It connected me to her, kept our ‘life forces’ whatever that is intertwined. She could block me from her head, so it wasn’t horrible. I guess it somehow connected me to the World as well, bringing some good luck with it. The world protects me, as much as it protects the Dragon. It’s just subtle about protecting me. Isn’t it weird that I’ve almost never died in any battles?”

“Kinda,” Tubbo said softly. 

“Georgette needed space a lot, and I wouldn’t mind. When she died,” and here Dream clenched his fists tight. “She blocked me, but I didn’t know. I thought it was just that she needed some space, and when she didn’t unblock me I got worried. She kept me from seeing who killed her; and she tried, so hard to make sure I wouldn’t find out who did it, either.”

Tubbo swallowed. “Who did it, Dream?” He asks, voice cracking.

“Well,” Dream says, leaning back. “Punz, Sapnap, BadBoyHalo.” He hears Tubbo’s quick sigh of relief, before he continues. “Technoblade, JSchlatt, and… you and Tommy.”

Tubbo doesn’t breathe. Dream looks at him, and then he sighs. “When you’ve got Technoblade and George, you’ll always have Tommy and Schlatt behind a few steps. Schlatt can’t let anything happen to his Vice, and Tommy loves content. And wherever Tommy goes, you follow, Tubbo.” 

“We weren’t there to kill it,” Tubbo says quickly. “Please, Dream. We weren’t there to kill it.”

Dream stays silent.

“I heard from Schlatt that they were going to kill the Dragon for some reason. I don’t know why, but they got Techno in it and Wilbur made Tommy go because he wanted ‘to see what they’d do’ and we didn’t even know what was happening. We got there and everyone was already fighting her, and then George showed up—”

“Wait,” Dream said. “George was there when they  _ killed _ her?”

“Yeah, it was weird. He kept yelling at her, and then he did something that like, controlled her? Didn’t you know that?”

“I thought he knew what they were doing,” Dream corrects. “I didn’t think he’d actually kill her.” And he growls, low in his throat, and jumps up. “I thought he’d covered for them, or something. But he was  _ there. _ He  _ helped _ them, even though he knew how important she was to me, and to the World.”

“I know that it keeps them from becoming the Nether,” Tubbo starts. “But that won’t happen for years down the line, right?”

Dream shrugs. “That’s what’ll happen with usual worlds.” He starts. “But me and George created this world, and it was specifically for Georgette. The world might not be able to handle not being with a Dragon. It’s trying to stay alive through me, but I’m not enough. That’s why Georgette’s egg should be hatched by now. But without Georgette here, I don’t know how. And she never showed me, either.

Tubbo swallows. “What’ll happen if the egg doesn’t hatch?”

“Nothing good. Nothing good at all.”

* * *

_ Her wings ache. They ache like nobody’s knows, but she can’t feel her Runner. Where is he? Where is  _ **_she?_ ** _ It’s dark, wherever she is. And it’s also incredibly hot. She flaps her wings once, and it feels like she’s in a liquid. She strains further, pushing herself what she hopes to be up. She fights, reaching for her Runner’s mind. _

**_Please,_ ** _ she begs. She sends image after image, trying to get her Runner’s attention. Or trying to find her Runner’s mind. She knows not if she’s reaching him or not; just that she’s sending it to someone. She finally breaks free of the liquid, pushes herself up into the rock above her and she lands on a ledge. She roars, angry, and looks at the molten hot red-and-orange thing underneath her. _

**_Lava,_ ** _ she thinks. The ledge underneath her curls into her claws like it was butter.  _ **_Netherrack?_ ** _ She thinks back to her Runner’s knowledge. She scrambles backwards, and something catches her eyes. She takes a glance at her wing, now with lave-looking veins running through it, and she takes a glance over herself. She’s still her Black, but now she’s got the same colors running through her scales, and her fur is all gone. Granted, it wasn’t much in the first place, but it was  _ **_hers._ **

_ She reaches for her Runner again, encountering nothing. She, in a fit of anger, roars so loud that she swears the World shakes underneath her feet. She takes to the skies, and looks outward toward the still-blue sky.  _ **_Dream,_ ** _ she thinks.  _ **_Find the Runner._ **

* * *

Dream and Tubbo bond over little things. Tubbo’s a lot like him, if Dream is honest. The kid’s mind runs a mile a minute, and he’s insanely smart. Dream teaches him things, little things that no one’s going to notice that Dream gave him. When he hits someone with a bow, or a crossbow (crossbow’s better, he informs Tubbo almost immediately); Dream pushes him to run close, and immediately hit them with an axe. Tubbo grows on the crossbow, the axe is something he doesn’t like very much. They experiment with different ones as well. A sword would seem to fit Tubbo better, but apparently a shovel’s his go-to. 

“I have one at L’manberg,” Tubbo says. “It’s amazing.” 

Dream also shows him how to not get caught stealing anyone’s bread or wheat or whatever. There’s a reason Dream’s never been seen in this World, despite creating it. They don’t talk much about the egg, Dream not giving away its location (although, Tubbo seems to realize where it is). But it’s not with him, Dream swears that. Tubbo once asks about Dream’s family, and he’d answered without thinking. “Two sisters, and a brother,” he says. “I think Tommy and my sister would get along, but I’m never going to let them get together.”

“Why not?”

There’s a pause, and Dream debates on whether he should answer. “They’re different,” he starts. “And they’re in a different world as well. I can’t go back to them.”

“Do… do you want to talk about it?”

Dream shakes his head. “No,” he says. “Not them.”

“Well, my mom was always nice,” Tubbo says quietly. “Or, at least, the parts I remember of her. My dad, too. I don’t think I have any siblings; or if I was the oldest. Tommy came, and then we ran away together. I didn’t know where, but he’d said he’d found a place. And then we fell through something,” Tubbo leans backwards, and adjusts his hand to the stars above them. “Something shiny, and big. Maybe a portal? We fell through, and Wilbur and Phil picked us up. We were both, like, five or six. The portal closed soon after, so we couldn’t get back. I don’t even think Phil knew what was happening. Wilbur did, though. I don’t know how he knew, but he did.”

“So our parents are in different worlds,” Dream says, leaning backwards and adjusting Tubbo’s hand to mark a constellation. “That’s something we have in common.”

“So it is,” Tubbo says. “At least we’re together in that. Maybe they’re together.”

Dream laughs, then. “Maybe,” he says. “After losing their sons, they get together.”

  
  


“Could happen,” Tubbo starts. “My parents were close to other people. And I was a sweet boy, according to Phil. Always saying ‘please’ and ‘thank you’ and stuff.” 

Dream looks away, then. “I don’t remember much of my childhood,” he says. “Just that I was a brat, and I hated when I didn’t get things my way.”

“Just like now?”

“Shut up.”

* * *

Schlatt’s already prepping his speech as George goes near him, Tubbo still missing. “‘Citizens,’” he starts. “‘We’ve got a fuckin’ earthquake apparently. We’re going to go and clean it up. Mostly Niki though.’ Yup, sounds good.” 

“Schlatt,” George starts. “Do you know how rare that is?”

“For what?”

“An earthquake?  _ Here? _ ”

“No. I’ve had earthquakes a lot.”

“Schlatt,” George says. “Dream’s always here, protecting us from this kind of stuff. When everything’s going to shit, Dream’s here. And now he’s gone and there was an  _ earthquake. _ ”

“He hasn’t been here lately,” Schlatt says, picking up a piece of porkchop and eating it. “He wasn’t there when I won the election. He wasn’t there when Wilbur got the visa, and he wasn’t there when Ninja married you. That’s all things that he protects, right? So why wasn’t he here, then?”

George thinks of a dragon, flying high in the dark sky, of bright lights bursting from its body and it dying. “I don’t know,” George starts. “But we’ve got to get him back for this one. If he’s here, we’re safe.”

“And how do you know that?”

“Trust me, please, Schlatt.” George says.

“We don’t need him, here. And I’m not doing it.”

“Mr President,” George said. “We can’t not…”

“I’m the President, and  _ I _ say when I want Dream to come back.”

“It’s  _ Dream’s _ World, and he’s protecting us!”

“No, it’s  _ mine _ now.”

* * *

“What?” Tubbo asks, tilting his head. “What do you mean?”

“There’s a lot that goes on,” Dream says. “So I’ve got to patrol more often, especially since you and Tommy like adventure. And I can’t always do it myself, so here.” Here, he pokes Tubbo, and gives him a shield and an enchanted shovel with knockback. He taps his own shield with a stick and Tubbo gets up, readying. 

“Tommy’s the one who gets us in trouble.” Tubbo says. “But he’s my friend.”

Dream smiles. “That’s me and Sapnap,” he said. “I’d follow Sapnap anywhere, and everywhere. And he’d follow me. I think George would, too.” Here, Dream charges forward, taking the first attack and Tubbo blocks it quickly. Dream steps backwards, ready to go on the defense, and Tubbo holds his shield firmly, and takes a quick glance around. 

“Would you do it now?” Tubbo darts forward, and Dream sidesteps. Tubbo switches to a crossbow and aims, letting it fly through the air and Dream  _ just _ gets his shield upward before Tubbo springs forward, and hits Dream in the chest with the shovel. He flies backward, and hits a tree. Tubbo runs to him, apologizing and Dream brushes him off and then gets up. He checks his own ‘injuries’ and there’s nothing. Just some bruises, and he gets back into battle position. 

“Would I do what now?” He asked, whirling around to keep Tubbo off his trail. 

“Would you follow Sapnap?”

Dream slides past Tubbo’s shield and holds his stick to his back. “Probably,” Dream said softly. “But not right now.”

Tubbo sighs, and drops his shovel. “How?” He questions. “How did you do that?”

“I’ll teach you,” Dream says. “You’re focused on talking, and blocking. That’s good, but you’ve got to learn to do both. And when you’re doing both, you can also go through battle plans in your head, and focus on doing more things.”

“I don’t know.” Tubbo says. “I’m not you.”

Dream shrugs. “No, you’re not. And that’s okay. You don’t have to be me. You can be Tubbo, and still prepare. If Schlatt does ever catch onto you, or even tries, you’ve got to be quick.”

“Well, I mean. I said I was pregnant.”

Dream whirls around.  _ “For six months?” _ He demanded. “Tubbo, you know that he’d be expecting a kid in another three, right?”

Tubbo shrugs. “I’d tell him I’ve given them up for adoption.”

Dream starts laughing. “Okay, Tubbo,” he said. “Jesus, you’re just full of surprises, aren’t you?”

Tubbo smiles back at him, and then fires an arrow straight into Dream’s shoulder.

_ “Fuck.” _

* * *

In the night, Tubbo sleeps close to Dream’s side as he lays looking at the sky above him. He traces the stars that should make a constellation that isn’t there anymore. Tubbo mutters something and curls tighter on himself. Dream puts some more wood in the fire and then thinks back to before he’d tied Georgette and him together. 

When he’d first beaten the Dragon in his Real World, the Watchers were waiting for him. They told him that there’s no point in him returning back home, refusing to tell him what will happen to it. They introduced him to Grian, who smiled at him and explained exactly what Watchers  _ were _ and are. 

“You’re special,” Grian said. “That’s why they chose you.”

“I don’t want to be special,” Dream had sobbed, burying his face in Grian’s shoulder. “I just want to go home, to my mom and dad.” 

Grian had held him tightly, that night. He’d whispered words of encouragement, and made promises Dream had forgotten since the years have passed. 

(Grian had a plan and escaped quicker than Dream had realized. It was four years after Dream had joined, and Grian promised that he’d come back for him. Dream waited three more years before making his own plan, escaping without the Watchers noticing. He’d sealed up the Watchers’ world behind him. Dream swore to never return there. And then Georgette began dying.)

He’d managed to find the Watchers’ World again, and went there. Broke his own promise to himself, Grian, and his parents. All the time he’d spent keeping them away, and he ended up going right to their door. The Watchers had given him a choice: allow the World and Georgette to die, or when the world becomes bleak, unlivable, Dream is to go back to them. 

Dream isn’t dumb. He knows what they want, knows why they want him back. But he agrees anyway, and they give him the Spell.  _ It will tie you two together, _ Luke had said. And that is all they would say. Dream took what he could, and escaped again. He knows that if Georgette’s death isn’t a sign, he doesn’t know what is. But he feels Tubbo shift closer to Dream, and he wraps an arm around him. 

_ “ _ I’ll protect you,” Dream says.  _ “I promise.” _

* * *

There’s many ways a World can collapse. The Dragon dies before her egg hatches, the Dragon is killed before her egg is hatched, the egg is destroyed and the Dragon alongside it. It all revolved around the Dragon, you see? The World fails to protect the Dragon, and as punishment it dies. But it all comes down to a Dragon, and her egg: whether it hatches or not. Dream held onto his First World’s Egg, the Watchers allowing it; and Dream remembers watching it wriggle. He’d pressed a hand against the shell, feeling the smoothness of it and the baby dragon in it. 

(Couple of months later, the Watchers take away the egg. “You’re much too grown now for silly First World things,” they claim. Dream had just turned twelve years old.)

But there’s a sulfur smell in the air, something that makes Dream think  _ Nether _ before his eyes even open. It’s just the smell that is making him think it, but Dream’s been doing speedruns since he was ten. He knows what the Nether smells like the back of his hand, knows just what’s happening. He jumps up before shaking Tubbo awake. 

Tubbo jerks awake, staring up at maskless Dream blearily. “What’s wrong?” He asks. “What is it?”

“We have to go,” Dream says, looking at the sunrise. “We have to go,  _ now. _ ”

“Where? And where’s your mask?”

“I don’t know, but we’ve got to go.”

Tubbo gets up slowly, still sleepy but Dream is jittery. He’s already planning for the future, already thinking farther into finding Georgette’s egg and hopefully, being able to get her out soon enough. He manages to grab onto his mask on the ground and slips it on.

* * *

There’s something wrong with wherever they are, Fundy thinks. They’ve been rebuilding again, trying to pull sinking buildings out of the ground and Fundy swears he sees Wilbur and Tommy come into L’manberg once or twice. There wasn’t any words exchanged between father and son, but Fundy had turned away. 

Fundy hears Tommy’s own questioning of where’s Tubbo gone. When’s he coming back. Why did he leave. How did they even lose him. If he was with tubbo, he never would’ve left. Fundy wishes that he would be able to tell him that he’s safe at least. But then he’s going to get blamed, and they’ll be a Manhunt out for Dream and Fundy’s already got too much on his plate. 

There’s been enough fighting lately.

* * *

“We have to get Georgette’s Egg,” Dream muttered.

“Do we know how to hatch it?”

“No.”

“Then why are we going to get it?”

“Because the World’s going down, Tubbo.”

“What?”

“I don’t know. Something’s different about this world.”

Tubbo’s voice is shaky. “Dream, what’s different about this world?”

“We created it for Georgette,” Dream says. “And she’s the one who’d been keeping the world alive. And now that she’s gone…”

“What’s going to happen, Dream?”

“I don’t know,” Dream starts. “But it smells like the Nether. I don’t think I’m enough for the World. But I did the calculations. This should have started happening in three months, why is it happening right now? That doesn’t make any sense, and not to mention that the Worlds don’t work like this. Of course, then again this world wasn’t made the ‘right’ way and was just for the Dragon and then she died and Sapanp…” Dream trailed off, and Tubbo watched with wide eyes.

“But wouldn’t George know, Dream?” He asked quietly. 

“The End was off limits.” Dream said. “We only told Sapnap about my dragon once. Months ago. George doesn’t know what happens to Worlds afterwards. Bad never knew.  _ No one _ except Sapnap knew about Georgette, and even then.  _ Even then. _ He would have forgotten it. So, who knew and told?”

Tubbo stared at him with wide eyes. Dream’s head snapped toward the trees above them before shooting an arrow into it. There’s a  _ thunk _ as it hits something solid and Tubbo glances up as well. “Someone’s watching,” Dream said. “And listening to me. And, somehow, they told my friend without me knowing about it, and then he killed my dragon.”

“Who would do it?”

Dream narrows his eyes at the sky, then shrugs. “I really don’t know.” He says. “But there’s always ideas.”

* * *

Dream helps Tubbo up into the trees, and then does a quick double take back at the village they’d passed. It’s empty, with only one person sitting outside with something in his hands. “That’s the village that we killed the Golem, isn’t it? Couple of weeks ago?” Tubbo whispered to him. 

“Yeah,” Dream replied. “Looks like they didn’t have enough.”

Tubbo risks another glance back, and Dream jumps to another branch. Tubbo follows, silent and Dream takes a moment to appreciate how much he’s grown. He’s still clumsy and there’s still things that he can be taught, but Dream’s confident that he’s going to be okay. 

They’re all going to be okay.

“Dream?” Tubbo asks, and Dream grabs his arm before he jumps onto another branch. 

“It’s unstable,” Dream says. He puts a little bit of his weight on it, and it cracks underneath. “If we both get on it, it’ll fall. Go ahead, and choose another one.”

Tubbo does, glancing back at Dream to make sure he’s choosing the right one. Dream doesn’t look at him, but he’s wary all the same. Their journey back home will take a week at most if they don’t stop, six if they do.

* * *

_ This is fun, isn’t it? Reading about Dream. It will be a perfect time to cut in. What do you know about the World he created with GeorgeNotFound? Go ahead, and tell me, please.  _

_ … _

**_You don’t know enough. How would you expect to finish the story happy?_ **

_ Don’t be rude. We should tell them. _

**_The World was created for Georgette the Dragon. Dream’s friend decided that they need to get on the same side, and decided that if he killed the Dragon, and then blamed it on Technoblade_ **

_ A very good plan, if I say so! _

**_Then Dream would decide that Pogtopia can’t survive anymore. BadBoyHalo didn’t understand the true extent to this, but GeorgeNotFound did. So, in a brilliant move, GeorgeNotFound followed them with Technoblade. And JSchlatt knew what was happening, so he⸺what?_ **

_ You already know that part? _

**_Well, the World was, again, created for the Dragon. Here’s the thing that happens: when the world collapses, it had failed the dragon. So, the Dragon returns. It happens slowly, years and years for the Dragon’s particles to merge back together, and become what would, essentially, be called the Nether Dragon. No one sees the Dragon, but She comes and spreads the netherrack and lava everywhere. But, since the World is for Georgette, and Dream is connected to her, she is back early._ **

_ Don’t forget the egg! _

**_I’m not telling them about the egg._ **

_ Why not? _

**_It’ll ruin the story._ **

_ No it won’t. You’re just dramatic. The egg is connected to both the Nether Dragon, and Dream. There’s a tiny, tiny moment in the years that follow that would help the World to survive long enough. If the egg is hatched in this window of time, then the World is safe, the Dragon’s particles are gone again because the new End Dragon draws on her parent’s particles. The egg’s never been hatched outside that moment, and some think they never will. It’s, after all, years from now. _

**_See? You ruined it!_ **

_ No I didn’t, don’t be a baby! I didn’t even tell them that they needed to do before the egg hatches! Remember? How they need to⸺ _

* * *

_ “Tubbo!” _ Tommy cries at the border’s edge, running toward his friend.

“Tommy!” Tubbo yelled back, foot up ready to go before he glanced backwards at Dream’s masked face. (He took it off, once, by the fire. Tubbo remembers a slight smirk and glinting green eyes). Dream nods, once, and Tubbo explodes, flying across to hug Tommy. L’manberg still stands, but Dream thinks it looks smaller suddenly. 

Fundy and Eret are in Eret’s castle, looking over it and waving at Dream. He holds up one hand, a quick wave, and then he’s already turning to go to his base. He’s got to get the Egg and maybe if he could get it to the End, it’ll tell him something. Hopefully. 

But then Tubbo is latching onto his arm, chattering insanely with Tommy, who just stares at Dream. Dream waves at the teenager before sliding out of Tubbo’s grip. “I’ve got to take care of a few things,” Dream says. “I’ll see you later, okay?”

“You can’t leave us,” Tubbo insists. “Bad things happen when you leave, so you’ve got to stay.”

Dream frowns. “I’ve got to go.” He says. “There’s something that needs to be done.”

Tubbo frowns as well. “Dream,” he says. “If you’re going somewhere, then we’ve got to follow.”

“Tubbo.” Tommy says. “Come on. Wilbur’s waiting for you.”

“Go ahead, Tubbo. I’m not going to be gone long.”

Tommy grabs onto Tubbo’s arm again and tries to pull him away. “Come on, Tubbo,” he says again. “You’re coming to Pogtopia with us. I’m not letting Schlatt lose you again.”

Tubbo frowns again, before letting go of Dream’s arm. “You’re not going to leave us, right? You’ll be right back?”

“By the time you come back from Pogtopia, I’ll be here,” Dream promises. Tubbo’s expression doesn’t change but he does let Tommy lead him away. If he’s going to keep his promise, he’s gotta be quicker than normal. He’s out of Ender Eyes right now, so the best he can do is just sprint. His base is lined with iron doors, and Dream’s pushing his way toward inside it. He crawls into it, flicks the lever underneath the bed, and takes a glance inside the hallway that opened. The egg sits innocently at the end and he walks to it.

“Hey, buddy,” he whispers. “If you’re going to hatch, you’ve got to do it soon.”

The egg doesn’t move and Dream sighs. He grabs the egg and tucks it in his pack before jogging toward his chests and ruffling through them. Dream manages to snag a bucket and some more Ender eyes before he goes back to crawling through the entryway again. Tubbo’s not back yet, and Dream takes a moment to look over at the SMP. Something’s happened, because some buildings are in the ground, some are just chunks; others building are half-built and Dream’s eyes glance toward Technoblade sitting on top of a tall wall, with a trident in one hand and his netherite armor glowing. 

Dream stares at him, and Techno stares back.

_ Two Gods, _ Dream laughs at himself.  _ Two Gods, watching each other. _

Dream sets off again, throwing an Ender Eye to move faster. Something’s happening, Dream feels. He doesn’t know if going to the End would be a good thing, but there’s a much better chance of Georgette’s egg hatching where she would be able to live.

* * *

_ The world is burning underneath her claws. Every place she lands, netherrack spreads like a fungus. Every place with water that she tries to get a drink from churns and evaporates. Lava comes sprouting from the Earth, taking the ocean’s place, and Georgette knows this World is being punished.  _

_ It failed to protect her. But she is not bitter, like the Two Gods in her Portal, who whisper to her whenever her Runner was gone, said.  _ **_“When the World fails, you will grow bitter. Angry. And when you come back, your anger will gnaw at you until you’ve punished this World and all its inhabitants.”_ ** _ They told her, poison coating their tongues. _

_ But she is not bitter. She does not want to punish the World.  _ **_She_ ** _ had failed. Why would the World be punished for her mistake? She grew too careless, and she’d allowed herself to listen to her Creator. Her mistake, not her World’s.  _

_ “The child,” _ _ came another whisper, the voice full of life and easily drawing Georgette in.  _ _ “You were not born traditionally. If you were, you would be named something in your mother’s tongue. Instead, it is your Creator’s tongue that gifted you the name. The child you adore, the egg, must be named.” _

_ She didn’t name her Child. _

_ She gave that gift to her Runner. _

* * *

Wilbur hugged Tubbo tightly and then pulled him back. “Where have you been?” He’d said. “How could you do that to us?”

“I’m sorry,” Tubbo mumbled. “But I had to get away.”

“Well, you should’ve just called us. Technoblade was ready to go searching for you weeks ago.”

“I wasn’t gone that long.”

Wilbur looked angry. “Tubbo, it was almost a month ago.”

“Time passess differently with Dream.” Tubbo shrugs. “I can’t complain. But… ugh… he knew about the dragon thing.”

“Of course he knew about the dragon, Tubbo! He’s  _ Dream, _ he knows everything!” Tommy calls from his corner, where he’d picked up some cards and studied them. 

“But Tommy, he knew exactly who was there! And no one knew who went there. And he’s trying to… he’s trying to hatch the Ender Dragon’s egg.”

There’s a pregnant pause and Wilbur’s expression changes into one of horror. “He can’t be.” Wilbur sputters. “No one hatches a Dragon’s egg except the  _ dragon. _ ”

“The dragon they killed, Tommy? That was Dream’s pet.” Tubbo tells him. “He said George created her, and Dream created  _ this _ world to help keep her safe.”

Tommy stills.  _ “What? _ Tubbo, that’s fucking stupid. You can’t tame Ender Dragons.”

“Didn’t you hear me, Tommy? George  _ created _ her! She wasn’t hatched!”

“But… oh, fuck Tubbo,” Tommy whispers. “If the dragon’s his pet.  _ Fuck.” _

Wilbur’s silent this entire time before he suddenly says  _ “Fuck. _ Is that why he left?!” 

“He was looking for ways to hatch the egg,” Tubbo nods. 

“Does Techno know?” 

“I don’t think so.”

“Make sure he does, and as soon as possible. If Dream’s going to go after him, he’s not going to hold back.”

“Techno beat him once. He’ll do it again, right Wilbur?”

“I don’t know, Tommy.” Tubbo starts. “He was really upset when we talked about it.”

_ “Shit.” _

* * *

The Endermen stare at Dream’s pack, where he knows they feel Georgette’s egg. His dragon explained a lot to him. How the Endermen bowed to the whims of the dragon because they can  _ feel _ the power radiating off of both the egg and the dragon herself. They won’t interfere with anything dragon related, nothing to do with Dream either since he’d tied their lifeforce together. 

Dream bends down and takes the egg out of the pack. “Hey,” he whispers to it. “It’ll be amazing, if you could hatch you know. There’s so much going on right now. Can’t you just take a leaf out of my book and speedrun your hatching?”

The egg wriggles, just a tiny bit. Probably thankful it’s back home. Dream leans forward, presses a hand onto the egg, and swears he feels the dragon’s snout press against his hand. Dream blows a raspberry and sighs. 

“No one’s going to come back here, probably,” Dream starts. “The Endermen won’t bother you either. I  _ need _ you to hatch. Please?” 

The egg doesn’t move. Dream sighs, and then goes toward the exit. 

“I had a really good name, too. Do you want to hear it? I’ve decided on the name ‘Patches’. ‘Cause you’re a  _ patch _ to our problems.” Dream wheezes at his own joke before looking at the egg. It doesn’t move, silent, and Dream sighs. 

“Alright. I’m going to head out. I’ll figure it out, Patches. I promise.” Dream gets up and heads toward the exit, calling out a goodbye before he leaves.

(And, unknown to him, the egg begins to crack.)

* * *

**_“But you knew that, didn’t you?”_ **

_ “Names hold power, young ones. Before the mother of the dragonling dies, she screams the name of her newborn. However, since the dragonling is inside her Egg, and the mother rose upward to attempt to save herself, the name is lost somewhere. It is scattered in the mother’s particles, in the air still around her; in the Endermen who watched them die. If the egg stays underneath where it is laid, then the name could be drawn earlier and they would be able to hatch, you see?” _

**_“Do you understand?”_ **

_ “Shh. Of course they do. They are smart people, aren’t you? When the dragonling stays where it is laid, the world begins to feed off of it. That is why the most important thing is to leave the egg. When the dragonling is born, then it has become accustomed to the world feeding off it, and the world’s power holds the same joy it once did. If you take the egg, however, the World can’t find it. The dragonling is taken away, and it does not enjoy being taken. It grows angry, in it’s own prison. No-named, and seemingly unwanted.” _

**_“It screams for it’s mother. And its mother responds by ripping the World away. But the Player is already long since gone. The World didn’t ‘interest’ it anymore, so it leaves. Unknown of the havoc it wreaked.”_ **

_ “Don’t guilt trip them! They don’t know!” _

**_“Doesn’t matter, anyway. Dream’s already gone from the End, and he’s not coming back until ‘later’. And who knows if later will even come for him.”_ **

_ “Do not spoil this for them!” _

* * *

The World ends, as it began, according to Dream. It started with a dragon, creating a safe space, and naming it. It starts with a name, a Runner, and a Dragon that adores him with no ends in sight. It ends with a dragon, blood-red and searching for a Runner who can’t hear her thoughts anymore. But here’s the tiny thing that we have overlooked in his story: Dream loves his dragon.

And there’s nothing Dream wouldn’t do  _ for  _ his dragon.

* * *

She falls on Manberg’s flag, roaring with the anger of a thousand dragons. She hears the screaming of the people around her, and she jumps onto another building, feeling it form underneath her claws. Georgette grabs onto someone’s shirt, picks them up and tosses them into the air. The woman shrieks, and Georgette grabs her before she falls, eyeing her. The woman screams angrily, kicking at her and snarls once before she falls silent.

_ Good,  _ Georgette thinks before dropping her.  _ Niki. _ She thinks again as Niki scrambled to her feet, running off toward the forest. 

_ Pogtopia. Safety. Runner? _ She takes a quick sniff. No. Her Runner’s scent is all over L’manberg, and his disdain for it is also clear. She manages to snag another one, one with fur all over him and he screams. 

She drops him as well.  _ Fundy, friend.  _ She’s very hot, if Fundy rolling around on the ground is any indication. She leans down, touches her mind with the fox’s, and shows him pictures of her Runner, and a question mark.

Fundy’s mind immediately pulls pictures of a brown-haired boy with a hiccupy laugh. And then her Runner besides him.  _ Tubbo. Runner. Technoblade? Dream. Killer. _ Georgette rears upward, breaks her connection with the fox and takes to the skies again.

_ Where are you, killer? _ She hisses.  _ Where are you hiding? _ She catches another glimpse of Niki running through the forest, and Georgette knows where the boy is.

* * *

Niki comes running in, out of breath and shaking. There’s burn marks on the back of her shirt, and blisters on her back as well. “There’s a dragon,” she cries.  _ “A dragon!” _

Wilbur’s eyes widen and he yells at them all to get down. “Into the tunnels,” he screams. They all obey, with no arguments, and they creep along silently.

“She’s looking for someone,” Niki breaths. “She let me go.”

They don’t speak again, not until they feel the ground shake above them. Tubbo claps his hands over his mouth, rocks falling down, and they all crouch lower. The dragon roars, but it sounds like she’s screaming, tearing the ground above them to nothing. “We need to go deeper,” Tommy whispers. 

“Or we don’t move,” Wilbur snaps back.

* * *

She’s halfway down when she can connect her Mind with theirs. She finds the one they call  _ Tubbo, _ but  _ Tommy  _ is there, too.

_ Scared, _ comes the first thought. She pauses in her own rampage. 

_ Yes, _ she replied back.  _ Scared. _

_ Looking? _

_ My Runner. _

_ Who? _

She snarls, the netherrack spreading underneath her feet once more. Her claws rip through it, and she imagines her Runner. His green hoodie, his mask that never leaves his side unless he’s with her. The green eyes underneath it, and the blond-brown hair that he’s got.  **_My Runner._ ** She snarls.

_ Not here. _

_ Here. _

_ Not here. _

_ Killer here. Killed my Runner. _

_ No, alive. _

She pauses again.  _ Dead, _ she repeats.  _ No thoughts. Only Georgette. _

* * *

Dream eyes the netherrack growing on buildings and spreading through the ground. “What the fuck.” He asks quietly. 

“There’s a dragon,” Techno says behind him. “Black and red, you know. Hot like lava.”

Dream frowns. “That’s weird.” He says. “Usually it starts by spreading from the Portal, and no dragon comes.”

“Dream…?” Fundy asks, fur signed. “Did you know this was going to happen?”

Dream hums. “I didn’t know that a  _ dragon _ would come, but I knew about the World collapsing.”

_ “Collapsing?!” _ George screams from the other side where Schlatt and Quackity have already picked their way across the netherrack. “What’s happening?”

“You killed Georgette,” Dream says, shrugging. “The world’s created for her, and her egg and so on. If I’d hatched her egg in time, the World wouldn’t be doing this right now.”

_ “What?!” _ Quackity screamed. “You’re telling me this all happened, because some people killed a  _ dragon _ ?”

_ “My _ dragon,” Dream corrects. “That’s what happens when you mess with my stuff, Muffinteers.”

“We didn’t know that this would happen!” Bad says. 

“The End’s been off limits for a long time.” Dream says. “Why do you think it was?”

“We just wanted you with us again, Dream,” Sapanp says.

“I’ve always been with you. But you were wrong when you killed Henry, and wrong when you didn’t leave the election to L’manberg, even though I  _ told _ you guys.”

A roar, distant, and to some, angry. But Dream knows she’s hurt. She doesn’t want to do this. Georgette’s a dragon, through and through, but she’d never hurt the World Dream lives in.  _ Pogtopia, _ comes the thought, unbidden to Dream’s mind. Dream jumps onto another building and then onto the netherrack, and then the flag. He stares at the black dragon, with red lines running through her veins, and her head pulls up from the hole she’d dug, her wings opening. 

And, oh, she’s beautiful, Dream thinks. The dragon takes the the skies, and Dream screams her name before he even thinks about it. Georgette’s head snaps toward him, and with one flap of her wings she  _ flies. _

* * *

_ She tucks her wings to her body, and falls downward, searching for the voice she knows. It’s  _ **_her_ ** _ Runner that has called her Home, her Runner who has decided that he still loves her. She opens her wings and slows her descent before thumping down in front of the flag her Runner is on. She lifts her head, and looks at him. Dirt covers his hoodie, his mask’s been cracked, and his jeans are ripped.  _

_ She nudges him, and the heat she admits. She whines, low in her throat, and she Connects with him again. He shows her how much he’s missed her, what he’d done to try and get her egg to hatch, how long he’d left and why he’d come back; she shows him how she’d come to in lava, wings feeling sluggish. How the water evaporated and lava sprouted wherever she’d went; how long she’d spend searching for him, and how the netherrack spread wherever she landed.  _

_ “Missed you,” her Runner breaths.  _

_ She nuzzles him, once, before showing him the final piece he’d been missing. “Name,” she whispers into his mind.  _

_ “Child needs a name to hatch.” _

_ “I gave her one. She didn’t. I left her in the End.” _

_ Georgette thinks back to the feeling in her heart, a little wiggling thing that grew and grew. “She will. World needs to adjust. Young.” _

_ “But you?” _

_ “Gone. Not now. When the dragonling hatches.” _

_ Her runner laughs, and Georgette feels herself cool down. The lava moves sluggishly through her veins, and her Runner climbs down. Georgette curls near him, a silent reminder to the others, and she begins to harden. _

* * *

There’s a happy ending here. They’ve got a dragon statue in the middle of L’manberg, wrapped around a flag’s base with Dream sitting right in the middle. There’s a baby dragon in the End, named Patches that runs and flies and jumps on Endermen who screech and scream. (She gets visited by Dream every day, listens to stories of her mother, and learns about her Creator; also by a brown-haired boy and a blond boy who throws a ball every so often and screams loudly. 

There’s a happy ending with friends and L’manberg, and how quick everything was. 

There’s a happy ending.

But there’s a sad ending as well. Dream visits Patches often, offers her the support and lets her play whenever she wants, but the choice he’d made comes to fall. They have to go farther and farther out to get water every so often. The lava heats the air around like like they’re in the Nether, and the water they use to cool themselves down evaporates earlier and earlier. The World will be a long, long time until it can return back to normal. Probably when Patches becomes an adult, which is far, far away. 

Dream made a promise, that when the SMP becomes unlivable, he will return to the Watchers. He tells no one that he’s leaving, but he does write Tubbo a note. He also does toss Schlatt another banishment, just for good measure, and damn the people who voted him. Dream's been the leader of the SMP long enough, he does what he needs to.

He leaves his home in the hands of Eret and Fundy, and he starts his journey again. Dream knows this much: he won’t return back to the Watchers, even if he’d made the promise. He’d broken stuff beforehand anyway, and Dream’s not afraid to break this one. 

He starts his own journey away from the SMP. When he gets far enough, he’ll open another Portal and escape from there. The Watchers will come looking for him, but he won’t be where they expected him to be. 

He’s on the run.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hope you guys enjoyed, and my writing always has cliffhangers at the end! I don't know why. Just in case a sequel decides to sprout up I guess. Sorry? 
> 
> Come scream with me at my Tumblr! Same name, same game! ^.^

**Author's Note:**

> I guess Fundy and Eret's part are kinda shippy, but I didn't really intend to write it like that. Other than that, I do not condone real-life shipping, but I do enjoy writing stories. 
> 
> If you guys liked it, just comment or kudo! :) Y'all are awesome,


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